Quality Communications

Quality Communications was a British publishing company founded by Dez Skinn that operated from 1982 to c. 2008. The company's most notable publications were the monthly comics anthology Warrior, which featured early work by writer Alan Moore; and the comics trade magazine Comics International, which Skinn published and edited for 16 years. Quality was involved with comics in both the UK and the U.S., mainly with reprint material from Warrior and repackaging 2000 AD material for the U.S. market.

For the American Golden Age comic book publisher formed in 1939, see Quality Comics.
Quality Communications
Statusdefunct, c. 2008
Founded1982
FounderDez Skinn
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Headquarters location3 Lewisham Way
London
Publication typesComic magazines, Magazines
Fiction genresSuperheroes, Science fiction, Horror

History

Quality was initially formed to publish Warrior, which featured the Alan Moore stories V for Vendetta and Marvelman. Warrior won 17 Eagle Awards during its short run (including nine Eagles in 1983 alone).[1] Quality was also involved in the U.S. completion of Marvelman and V for Vendetta.

Quality's main period as a comics publisher was from 1982 to 1988. 2000 AD content repackaged for the U.S. market included the titles 2000 A.D. Presents, Spellbinders, and Scavengers. During this period, Quality also published 7 issues of Halls of Horror, a title Skinn had originated earlier with Thorpe & Porter (the British publishing division of Warner Communications).

In 1990, Quality shifted focus to magazines, launched the comics trade journal Comics International, which Skinn published and edited for the following 16 years. His "Sez Dez" column was a regular feature in issues #100–#200. With issue #200, in 2006, Skinn sold the magazine to Cosmic Publications.[2] (Comics International struggled along for another couple of years before folding in 2010.)[3]

Quality published a few sporadic titles in the 2000s, including Toy Max (2003), a one-off magazine for toy collectors,[4] and Skinn's hardcover book Comix: The Underground Revolution (2004). In 2005, Quality published Ace Comics, an anthology of ten comic strips by City College Brighton & Hove students of Skinn's; it was distributed for free in East Sussex.

In 2008, Quality Communications published the 15th-anniversary issue (numbered #15) of Chrissie Harper's The Jack Kirby Quarterly.[5] (Harper had self-published The Jack Kirby Quarterly as a fanzine from Summer 1993 to 1999; she never published issues #13–14;[5] Harper later self-published issue #16 in Dec. 2015.)[6]

Titles published

Comics

Magazines

Books
  • Comix: The Underground Revolution (2004) — by Dez Skinn

References

Notes
  1. Green, Steve. "This Month," The Birmingham Science Fiction Group #147 (Nov. 1983), p. 2.
  2. Johnston, Rich. "Comics International Closes Shop," Archived 2010-10-28 at the Wayback Machine Bleeding Cool (May 27, 2010).
  3. Freeman, John. "Comics International publisher company dissolved," DownTheTubes (May 21, 2010).
  4. "Magazine offers toys for grown-ups," Press Gazette (May 1, 2003).
  5. Freeman, John. "Jack Kirby Quarterly Returns," DownTheTubes.net (JULY 12, 2008).
  6. Jack Kirby Quarterly at MyComicShop.com. Retrieved Nov. 26, 2020.

Sources
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